The Angel Test
by FullmetalAlchemist64
Summary: Truth is bored. So when Edward dies in an untimely car accident, he decides to have some fun and turns him into an angel! Given one more chance at life, Ed must return to earth and complete a task. But with one catch- he needs his friends and brother to help him. The problem? Nobody can see him.
1. Prologue

**AN: Welcome to my second FMA fanfiction, and the first multi-chapter one! Just so you guys will know, for the sake of convenience, we're going to pretend that Truth can somehow magically see everything that happens in the regular world. Thought I'd add that in so you wouldn't be completely lost. Hehe! Enjoy! (Review if you want, I don't like to force that kind of thing)**

**If I owned FMA, do you think I would be sitting in class writing this for you people? No. I would be sitting in my apartment in Tokyo writing his for you people. ;D**

Prologue

Truth sighed, playing with his fingers and observing the goings-on in the human world. Nothing interesting had happened for WEEKS, and he was becoming increasingly bored.

A bored truth is a dangerous truth.

But wait. What was that?

There was a commotion down on the streets of central, and a crowd was forming around what seemed to be a car wreck. Looking closer, Truth saw the faces of the injured people and grinned suddenly. The driver looked as though he would be fine. The golden haired boy in the back wasn't going to be so lucky.

"Well, things will certainly be getting interesting now, won't they?" he chuckled to himself. Already a plan was beginning to form in the back of his mind.

"I can't wait to see what will happen."

**Wow, that was really short… and really bad… the actual chapters will be much longer, don't worry! (And they won't suck)**

**Also, I would like to wish everyone a very happy FMA Day! Today my manga and anime club at school celebrated this fabulous occasion by watching the first two episodes of the original series! AWESOME! The only bad part was that I passed my state alchemist pocket watch around for people to inspect and honor, and I didn't get it back. All I can say is that, if it was an honest mistake that they took it, I'll let 'em off the hook. If not, SOMEONE'S GONNA DIE.**


	2. The Explanation

**AN: Okay, this chapter was a little short too. I promise you guys the next one will be longer! For some reason I had a really hard time writing this. Maybe it's because school kept trying to distract me with those annoying 'classes.' Anywho, this update is a special birthday gift for FMA! That's right! Today is the 10 year anniversary of the day that the original anime first came out! YAHOO! Don't forget to celebrate, my fellow otaku! ;D**

Chapter 1

Black. Everything was black.

Edward didn't know how long it had been black. It seemed like forever, but at the same time, like only a second had passed since…

Since what, again?

All he could remember was a screeching sound, a bright flash of light, and then the darkness. And with the darkness came pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. It wouldn't cease. Floating in the dark sea of black ink was starting to take its toll on him. With that thought, he began sinking deeper and deeper into the depths, and the pain began to fade away.

But then, far above him, he could see a light. It was faint and small, but slowly growing larger.

no. No. NO! Ed fought against it, whatever it was. It was way too bright… he just wanted to fall back into the ocean of blissful unconsciousness. The closer the light came, the more it hurt. Closing his eyes, he willed it to go away as hard as he could. Finally, when he opened them again, it had. As he watched, it faded into the distance. Breathing a sigh of relief, he allowed himself to once again be pulled down into the dark, the pain disappearing altogether.

His eyes snapped open.

Blinking, he sat up. Where was he? Everything was white… then he turned and saw the enormous stone gate. The portal of truth?! Why would he be…?

"Greetings, young human. It's been a while since you decided to visit me."

Whipping his head around, Ed saw the familiar white figure that haunted his nightmares sitting a few yards away.

"Truth…? Why…?"

"Confused, little alchemist?" Truth asked, grinning evilly.

Hearing this, Edward instantly became angry and leaped to his feet.

"You bastard! What did you do?! Why am I here?! AND DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!"

"Ha!" Truth laughed, smirking. "Still short-tempered, are we?"

"DON'T SAY SHORT EITHER!"

Truth raised looked at him in wry amusement, but did not comment on this outburst.

"Do you remember what's happened to you, fool?"

This stopped Ed in his tracks, and he looked at Truth, puzzled by the question.

"Um… It was dark, I think… and then there was a light, but it was way too bright, and I hurt everywhere… so I pushed it away and everything was black again… that's the last thing I remember."

"So you don't remember anything else?"

"Er… I was in a… a car, I think, on my way to give Colonel Shitface his precious report… and, uh… something happened? Um… we- hey, wait a sec, where's Al?!" Truth looked at him calmly.

"Your brother is perfectly fine, relax."

Ed glared at him, openly distrustful of this information.

"But why isn't he here?"

Truth laughed suddenly, and if he had eyes, it looked as though they would be filling with glee.

"You really don't remember much, do you? Looks like I was right! This is going to be fun…"

"Wait… fun? Is this your idea of a game, you bastard?! If it is, I can tell you right now, I'm not going to play along!"

Truth stopped giggling and cocked his head, studying Ed's expression.

"Oh, but you don't have any choice, alchemist. This game is mandatory if you ever want to see your brother or your friends again."

Edward stared in horror and confusion, torn between curling into a ball and whimpering like a little kid and giving Truth a good, hard punch in the face. The latter was sounding like the slightly better option.

"W-what do you mean, if I ever want to see them again? What are you planning?"

"So you still haven't realized?" Truth grinned up at Ed. "You were completely right when you said that something happened to you in that car. That car **crashed.**"

"It… crashed? But what does that have to do with anything? I still don't know why I'm here! If the car really did crash, then I have to get back to my world right away! Al will be worried sick!"

Truth sighed and shook his head.

"Do you still not understand, fool? Or are you just in denial? I really did think that you were smarter than this. The other car slammed right into the side of yours and crumpled the entire backseat like it was made of aluminum foil. That kind of impact is fatal."

Edward just stared at Truth, unable to comprehend what he was hearing.

"What are you…? I don't get it…"

Truth looked hard at Ed for a minute before finally speaking.

"You're dead, Edward Elric."

**Well, I'm going to go celebrate FMA's birthday by re-watching both of the FMA movies and all my favorite episodes! I'm also baking a cake…. hehe! Goodbye, my lovelies! ;D**


	3. The Hospital

**AN: YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Due to an overwhelming positive response from people in the reviews for the first chapter, I decided to work my butt off and update ASAP! And I do sincerely apologize for the shortness of the previous chapters, especially the prologue… and thank you to everyone who followed this story in spite of how awful it was! You are truly the best readers a girl could have! I salute you all! /~^_^**

**Also, in response to Curiosity Killed The Lavender's review, I was not planning on any OC's, but if anyone has a super-awesome idea for one, let me know and I'll see what I can do! ;D**

Chapter 3

RIIIIIIIIIIING!

The shrill sound of the phone sliced through the silence of the motel room, startling Alphonse. He stood, setting his book down on the table he had been reading at. Armor clanking, he walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Is this Alphonse Elric?"

The voice on the other end was not one that Al had ever heard before. It was a woman speaking, and she sounded sad and regretful, like she didn't want to make this call, but Al could tell that she was also trying to sound strong for his benefit. That scared him.

"Y-yes, my name is Alphonse. Is something wrong?"

"You have an older brother named Edward, correct?"

Al facepalmed, hoping that whatever Ed had done this time wasn't too destructive. Honestly, he could be so hot-headed sometimes. Probably someone had called him short again… shaking his head; he turned his mind back to the conversation at hand.

"Yeah, I do. What's he done this time? Gotten himself into more trouble, I'm assuming? Did someone call him 'little'?"

The lady was quiet for a minute, and then started speaking again, a little awkwardly.

"Er… Mr. Alphonse, I'm very sorry, but I'm calling to inform you that your brother was in a bad car crash. He's still alive, but only barely. His condition is very unstable, and the injuries are quite severe."

Al froze, a thousand thoughts running through his mind all at once. One of them stood out from the rest though.

'_Still alive… but only barely… still alive... barely… barely…'_

It took a few minutes for him to realize that the woman was still trying to speak to him as he tried to process the information.

"-lphonse? –r. Alphonse? Are you there? Mr. Alphonse?"

"Yes, I'm still here…" he whispered into the phone, finding himself unable to speak any louder. "Could you… could you please tell me where he is?"

He could hear the slight relief in the lady's voice when he answered; obviously she knew that if there hadn't been an intervention on her part, he probably would have gone into shock.

"We're just pulling up outside Central City Hospital, sir. Do you know where that-"

Alphonse couldn't hear her any more. He was already out the door, sprinting as fast as he could down into the lobby of the motel and out onto the sidewalk.

Running… running… running…

He flew around corners and darted through alleys and across streets, ignoring the honks from other cars as he cut them off. His only thought was that he had to go faster… to reach Edward, and to somehow escape the growing sense of horror and dread inside himself.

It seemed to take forever, but he finally arrived at the hospital. Bursting through the doors, he skidded to a stop beside the receptionist's desk. This was one time that he was glad to have a body that didn't get tired.

"Please… My brother's here… I need to see him…" he stared desperately at the woman behind the counter, who looked a little bit startled.

"Of course sir." She said with a fake smile. "And you are…?"

"My name is Alphonse Elric. My brother is Edward Elric." Just saying his name made Al more frantic than ever to get to Ed. "Please, he's the only family I have…"

"Oh…" The girl's expression darkened and she looked at him grimly. "That must be the boy that they rushed through here about ten minutes ago… I'll warn you, it doesn't seem very promising…"

"Please… please…" That seemed to be about the only word he could say now, as he stared wildly at the woman behind the desk. "Please let me see my brother…"

The lady sighed, a look of pity in her eyes. She reached over and yanked open a filing cabinet, searching for a second before pulling out the documents that she wanted.

"I suppose, if you really need to see him… he's in room 354. Good luck."

"Thank you…" Al replied weakly, turning and running for the stairs at the other end of the room. Dashing up until he reached level three, he stopped for a split second to read the sign telling what kind of medicine was practiced on that floor.

_ICU and Surgery._

Three words. It was only three simple words, but they burned themselves into Al's mind, leaving him momentarily frozen. Then he was off again, tearing down the long hallway as the room numbers flashed by.

340… 342… 344… 346… 348… 350… 352... **354**.

Al stopped and stared at the door, trying to mentally prepare himself. Did he really want to see how bad it was? Could his heart, wherever it might be, take it? Ed would want him to be strong, he reminded himself. In fact, once he got better, he would probably tease him about being scared of a door. Comforted by the thought, Al nodded to himself and then reached out, taking hold of the knob.

He turned it and walked in.

What he saw instantly made every comforting thought in his head fly right out the window. There were doctors everywhere, rushing around and yelling things that Alphonse didn't understand. There was also a loud beeping noise coming from somewhere, but none of this really registered with him. His focus was all on the boy lying on the table at the center of the room.

If it weren't for the golden hair splayed out around his head, Al didn't think he would have even known it was Edward.

He was covered in blood-soaked bandages, and to Al's horror, the stains seemed to be growing. He had needles and tubes stuck almost everywhere there weren't any bandages, and an oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth.

"E-Edward…" Al choked out, taking an involuntary step forward. "Brother…"

That was when one of the nurses going by noticed him. Quickly walking over, she looked up at him warily.

"Sir, I'm afraid that you can't be in here right now. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"B-but, my brother…" Al stuttered, trembling. "Ed…"

"Oh…" The woman's gaze softened. "He's your brother?"

Al nodded mutely, and she seemed to deliberate over something for a moment.

"All right, you can stay. But **keep out of the way**." She said sternly. "And I have to warn you, it doesn't look good."

With that, she walked away as quickly as she had come, blending in with the crowd of medical personnel.

Al unfroze and ran over to Edward, kneeling down on the right side of the operating table. He heard the doctors arguing about something in the background and glanced over at them.

"…need to stabilize his condition…"

"…is losing so much blood…"

"…would a transfusion…?"

Al tore his eyes away from the doctors. Listening to them made him feel nauseous, somehow. Instead he focused on Edward's pale face, talking to him softly.

"Brother, please… you have to make it… we said we'd get our bodies back together… you can do it, I know you can…"

That's when Al became aware of a suddenly different atmosphere in the room. The doctors had gone quiet, and were simply running around with an air of desperate urgency. What was different? Then it dawned on him. The constant beeping sound in the room was a heart monitor. The sound was slowly changing… it was more irregular.

And slowing.

Al gasped, gripping his brother's hand tightly.

"Ed, no, you're going to be fine… you can do it! Brother, please… please…please!"

It was no use. The beeps were getting further and further apart and Ed's breaths were growing sluggish.

Beep…beep…..beep…..beep…

Silence.

"Brother…? No… no, no, no, NO, NO! BROTHER! ED, PLEASE!"

Al was aware that someone was screaming. It took him a minute before he finally realized that it was him. Slowly, he stopped, the screams replaced with dry, rattling sobs.

'_So, this is what it's like to cry in this body…_' he thought.

However, it didn't seem to matter anymore. Nothing mattered. Because nothing could ever fill up the dark void that had just opened up inside him.

Vaguely, he could tell that all the doctors and nurses had quietly exited the room, leaving him to his grief. For that, he was grateful. He was going to need to get used to being lonely. Might as well start now.

He stayed in the room for hours, doing nothing but sitting there. Unthinking. Unfeeling. He was used to not being able to feel anything physically, but not emotionally. Eventually, he stood up. There was no rational thought telling him to do it, he just did. Feeling numb, he looked down at the body that, just yesterday, had seemed so energetic and full of life. Gently, he reached out and stroked Ed's cold cheek. Wait. No, that was wrong. This body was now still, frozen, and quiet. It was no longer Edward, the brother he had known. Without a word, he turned and left.

As he left the hospital, he looked up. It was nighttime now. The stars were out. He remembered how he and Ed always used to gaze up at the stars together. They had always seemed beautiful and full of mystery to Al. Now, they were just dim little points of light in the sky, unimportant and silly.

Not really caring where he went anymore, Al just started walking, letting his feet take over and carry him wherever they wanted to go. It seemed like forever, but eventually he stopped and looked up. He was in front of the motel that he and Ed had been staying at. Weird how he had automatically maneuvered himself back here without meaning to. He just had a feeling though… like he needed to be somewhere that Ed knew about. But that was crazy. Ed was gone, and he was never coming back. The sooner he accepted that, the sooner… what? What would be his purpose in life now? Getting his body back would be meaningless without Edward. That had been their goal for so long that Al didn't know how to want anything else. And now, it just seemed selfish and unimportant. Maybe… maybe he should just exist. Ed would've killed him if he saw him giving up on life. As long as he existed, he would be fulfilling his brother's wishes.

Before, the nights when he awake and alone had seemed to last forever. Now, it really would be forever, because there was no one to be with him during the day either. Slowly, he trudged into the motel and got to the room he and Ed had shared. As he walked in, he noticed that the phone was still out of the cradle, hanging by the cord from when he had dropped it and run out the door. It was funny… the last time that phone rang, Edward was still alive. He bent over and picked up the receiver, nestling it back into its proper spot.

Then, not really knowing what he was doing once again, he walked back into the room where Ed had slept the past few days. The bed was still messed up because Ed insisted that there was no point in making it when he would just sleep in it again. Suddenly, Al noticed something peeking out from under the tangled sheets. He reached over and pulled it out. It was Ed's red coat. It was summer, so Ed hadn't been wearing it recently. Finally, everything hit him all at once. His brother was really, truly GONE. He wasn't ever going to laugh at Al again for doing something stupid or worrying needlessly. He wasn't ever going to call Colonel Mustang a bastard, or joke around with the team at headquarters. He wasn't ever going to get sick from eating too much again, or sleep in and almost make them miss the train to wherever their next destination was. He wouldn't get excited anymore when they found a new lead on the philosopher's stone. He simply wouldn't be there.

Clutching one of the last things in the world that proved that his brother had ever really been here, Al collapsed on the bed and finally let all of his pain and sorrow be known to the world as he cried out Ed's name over and over again. Eventually, he had no more energy even to feel the pain and let himself sink into the icy blackness of depression. As he watched through unseeing eyes, the sky grew brighter signaling the beginning of another day. And that's all there would ever be for him now. Just another day. Day after day after meaningless day.

Around 7 o'clock, the phone rang. It took a minute for Al to realize that he should answer it. Still holding Ed's coat, he stood and dragged himself out to pick up the phone.

"Hello…"

Even to himself, he sounded miserable and hollow.

"Alphonse?" It was Lieutenant Hawkeye's voice on the other end.

"Oh, hello, Lieutenant."

"Yes, good morning Alphonse. Is Edward there?"

Al stiffened, just hearing Ed's name was like a blow to his soul itself. Edward had saved him by giving up his own arm, but when the time had come, Al couldn't do anything to save Ed. Equivalent exchange? Yeah, right…

"N-no, he… he isn't."

'_And he never will be again._' He added in his head.

"Oh." Hawkeye sounded a little surprised. "Well, the Colonel wants to know when he's going to get here with his report. It was due- Alphonse, are you alright?"

The dry sobs had come back, shaking Al to the very core.

"Lieutenant… Ed can't bring you that report… he already tried…"

"What do you mean, Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked, sounding alarmed and confused. "Where is Ed?"

Al tried to force the words out, but his voice didn't seem to be working.

"I… Ed's not…"

"Okay, look Al. You're obviously having trouble with something. Why don't you come in to the office, and you can tell us what's wrong, and where Edward is, alright?" Hawkeye said comfortingly. "How about that?"

Al hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Okay," he whispered.

**oOoOoOo**

**AAAARGH! IT WAS TOO RUSHED, WASN'T IT? *Sniffle* I feel so horrible… I can't believe I'm doing this to poor Al… I mean, I feel bad for Ed, but Al… WAAAAH! I'm a despicable, pathetic, miserable excuse for a human being… know what I did? I was writing Ed's death scene when I realized that I was listening to ****Into The Nothing ****by Breaking Benjamin. Oh my god… If you don't know what I'm talking about, look the song up. I was writing it from the part that goes:**

**[I'll keep you inside… where I lead you cannot follow…]**

**until the end of the song. Listen to it and you'll know what I mean. Afterwards, I felt so horrible that I curled up under a blanket in my room and ate zucchini bread and drank bitter coffee while wallowing in a puddle of my own misery. AAAAAAAGH! I swear, this is going to have a happy ending! In the meantime… *hugs Ed and Al* I'M SO SORRY FOR YOUR PAIN! *sobs***

**(Also, just to make sure there is no confusion, this is NOT going to be a RoyEd fanfiction…) *awkwardly hides behind wall***


	4. Telling the Story

**AN: YESSSS! TIME FOR CHAPTER 3 TO BEGIN! I can't tell you guys how much it means to me that chapter 2 got SEVEN reviews in one day. I love you all! :D Hopefully this will be that last ****SUPER-****depressing chapter for a little while. I can't stand to see Alphonse like this, even if I'm the one who wrote it in the first place… He's just so darn lovable… X3**

**(Curiosity Killed The Lavender: I like your idea about other angels! To be honest, I hadn't even thought about adding any in… but the more I think about it, it could provide an extra obstacle for Ed… hehe! :D *LIGHTBULB*)**

Chapter 3

'_What am I going to say to them? How can I possibly explain this?_'

Alphonse's thoughts swirled around in a mass of confusion and worry as he walked towards Central HQ. It just wasn't FAIR! His brother was dead and he was all alone… how could he possibly talk to anyone about it so soon? But… if he didn't tell everyone… who would? Nobody else knew, after all. This was all on his shoulders. He had to do it.

The weight on his soul was incredible. Edward had always taken all their burdens onto himself before; protecting Al from having to deal with them. How on earth had he done it for so long? It was hard for Al, even though he'd only been dealing with this for a few hours. He felt as though he would be crushed by them if he let his guard down for even a moment. Of course… Ed had been dealing with the emotional turmoil and problems and all of it with his brother. He wouldn't allow Al to try and take some of the pain so that they could share. No, he had been much too proud for that. He always stubbornly insisted that soon their troubles would all be gone anyway. Al didn't need to do anything. However, as a result of that, Al had no idea how to deal with this. Especially not without Ed by his side. But his brother had done it nonetheless, and so could he. Al looked up, determined to do this one thing, even if it destroyed him inside.

Even though he knew that Edward was dead, knew it beyond all doubt, there was still a part of him that resisted, as though if he waited long enough he would wake up from this nightmare and Ed would laugh at him for being so wimpy over a dream. They had faced much worse together. But now they weren't together. Al was alone. He would do this, though. For Edward.

Central Command seemed to be looming up before him much too fast, however. If he had a body, he knew that by this point he would have been weak and hyperventilating. Actually, he probably wouldn't have even made it this far. Surely his legs would have given out a few blocks back.

Stopping for a few moments, Al tried to clear his mind and remain calm. If he didn't, he knew that he would end up chickening out and running as fast and far away from this place as he possibly could. And he couldn't do that. It's not what Ed would have done. Steeling his resolve, Al put one foot in front of the other. Over and over again. Left, right. Left, right. Left, right. Everything around him seemed to be a blur.

Then, suddenly, he was at the gates of HQ. The guards there knew him, and let him through without question even though Ed wasn't with him. The first time he had tried to go in without Edward, the guards refused him entry, unable to be sure whether or not he was actually the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother. He had understood, but Edward wasn't so forgiving. Al had waited patiently until Ed came barreling outside, demanding to know what was taking so long. The guards both looked mortified, which Al had thought was punishment enough, but Ed had exploded. He ranted for five whole minutes about how dumb the military was, glaring at the two terrified men in front of him. When one of them had tried to utter an apology, Ed yelled:

"DARN RIGHT YOU'RE SORRY! IF YOU EVER MESS WITH MY BROTHER AGAIN, I'LL-MMMPPHFG!"

That was the point where Al had finally had enough and clamped his hand over his elder sibling's mouth. He had to drag a squirming Ed into HQ by the collar, throwing pleas to the guards to ignore his brother over his shoulder the whole way. Apparently the story had gotten around though, because the next time Al had shown up unaccompanied, he received the VIP treatment, though the guards were different.

Stop reminiscing about the past, he reminded himself. Things were different now. He felt like a zombie, shuffling along without any purpose. Eventually he found himself in front of the door leading into the Colonel's office. Raising a metal hand, he knocked three times.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was a weak sound. Apparently he couldn't do anything without Edward. He had never bothered to knock, always just bursting right into the room, not caring what he might be interrupting. Colonel Mustang often complained that one of these days; he was going to have to buy a new door. Well, not anymore.

"Come in!"

The Colonel's voice came from the other side, still sounding… not happy, (he probably had paperwork to finish) but normal at least. Mentally taking a deep breath, Al turned the handle and opened the door.

"Alphonse!"

Hawkeye sounded genuinely happy to see him. She might have been scary when it came to guns and war, but she also had a soft side. Al had always suspected that she thought of him and Ed almost as adopted sons. She had a sort of motherly affection for both boys, and could usually tell when something was wrong. She gave good advice when you were in trouble, and had helped Ed and Al on multiple occasions in the past. But no advice could help or heal what had happened this time.

"Hello, Lieutenant…" he mumbled, his gaze on the floor. He didn't want to have to explain, not when everyone was happy. Ed had never noticed, but Al could tell that everyone on Mustang's team honestly liked the two boys. Edward and the Colonel constantly fighting had been a source of amusement, a ray of sunshine in the otherwise dreary and boring office. People perked up just a little when they came through the door, and usually tried to get the brothers to stay longer, if possible. Then Al remembered his manners, and raised his head.

"Hello to you too, Colonel…"

Mustang looked up from his paperwork, seeming glad to have an excuse to stop reviewing it.

"Hello, Alphonse! Lieutenant Hawkeye tells me that something is bothering you! Go ahead, tell us all about it!"

Hawkeye's head whipped around and she glared at Mustang severely.

"Colonel, please don't be insensitive! If something is upsetting Alphonse, do NOT use it to get out of working!"

Mustang looked sheepish and cleared his throat, glancing down at the gun the Lieutenant now held.

"Um… right, of course. Whatever is worrying you, let's talk about it while I work, okay? Will that be all right?"

Al stared at the ground again, overcome with emotion. He hadn't expected that he would be forced to explain this quickly! He had no clue how to go about this, or how to deal with it at all. Finally, he spoke.

"Er… Colonel, I… I think it might be best if… if you weren't distracted during this…"

Hawkeye studied him, looking concerned.

"Al, something is really wrong, isn't it?"

Did she have a sixth sense?! Al had known that she could tell what people were feeling well, but not this well!

"Um… y-yes, Lieutenant, it's kind of… i-important…."

He trailed off at the end, not sure how to say everything. This was all happening way too fast!

By this point, the rest of the team had realized that something was amiss, and came wandering over, hovering around and acting more subdued than usual. Colonel Mustang got up from his desk and walked over as well.

"Why don't you sit down, Alphonse?" he said, gesturing to one of the couches. "Tell us what's wrong."

Al sat, the couch seeming tiny next to his bulk. Hawkeye squeezed in beside him, and the Colonel seated himself across from him. They stayed like that for a minute before Al finally realized that everyone was looking at him expectantly.

"This has something to do with Edward, right?" Havoc asked breaking the silence. "I mean, we haven't seen him, and he was supposed to drop by. He's not with you either…"

"Yeah," Breda interjected. "Where is he?"

Al silently wished that he could be anywhere but here. This was too hard! He couldn't do it…

"E-Ed is… he's…"

"Yes, Al?" Hawkeye asked gently. "What happened?"

Willing himself to push on, not give up, Alphonse tried as hard as he could to work up the courage to force the words out. He HAD to do this.

"He's… he's dead."

Even though they were barely audible, the words rang throughout the room, seeming to steal every single bit of oxygen, light and warmth from it. Everyone was totally silent, staring at Al in shock and bewilderment, trying to comprehend what they had just heard. It took a few minutes, but Fuery was the first to speak.

"W-what… how?"

The question sliced through the invisible barrier holding back everyone's words, and they all started talking at once.

"That can't be-"

"Why didn't-"

"What was-"

"Where did-"

"**How?**"

That one froze everybody, and they all looked over at the Colonel.

"How did it happen, Alphonse?"

The Colonel knew that this wasn't a prank or a joke of any kind; Al wasn't the type of person to do something like that. He wouldn't, ever. And Al was grateful that the Mustang understood. He didn't think he would've had the strength to try to convince anyone.

"He… there was a car crash…"

The Colonel's eyes widened.

"SHIT!" he cursed, dropping his head into his hands. "Fullmetal… everything you two have gone through together, and you're telling me… A CAR CRASH?"

Al flinched, trying to keep from wailing in pain and misery. He had had that very thought many times last night, and he still couldn't make sense of things. Edward had been so strong, so independent, it didn't seem like anything could kill him. He had seemed almost invincible. Something like a simple car crash didn't seem like nearly enough to tear him out of everyone's lives forever. It was normal, just a stupid little accident. That was something that regular people got a few broken bones or scratches from. Not something strong enough to kill Ed. The concept of it was inconceivable. And yet it had happened, and they were just left to try and figure out how on earth it could possibly have happened.

Al sat, trembling as yet another wave of grief rolled over him. His body didn't need oxygen, and yet it seemed suffocating, something you were unable to fight or break free of.

Then Hawkeye silently placed a hand on his shoulder, waking him from his trance. Slowly, all at the same time, everyone reached out to the people closest to them, making a lopsided, deformed circle. They stayed like that, how long, Al would never know, just quietly letting the pain of losing someone wash over them.

It all ended as quickly as it had begun.

Lieutenant Hawkeye gasped suddenly, her eyes flying open. Everyone looked over at her, the circle shattering. She just stared back at Alphonse, the horror in her eyes now fresh and new.

"Al…" she started slowly. "On the phone, when I asked you about Ed's report… you said- you said that he **tried** to deliver it… you didn't mean…"

Then it seemed to finally click in everyone's head, and they all turned to Alphonse, looking terrified. Even the Colonel, though he tried to hide it.

"Al laughed, weakly and without any trace of humor.

"Yes…" he whispered. "He was on his way here…"

"Oh, Al…" Hawkeye said, her voice sounding shockingly fragile. "I'm so sorry…"

"Not your fault…" Al mumbled, turning away. "It was just an accident…"

Then Colonel Mustang stood up, his expression dark and unreadable.

"Al, what hospital did they take him to?"

Al looked up, uncertain where this was going.

"Um… it… it was Central City Hospital…"

"All right."

Mustang closed his eyes for a second, then reopened them.

"Al, why don't you go back to your motel room? I'm sure it must have taken a lot to come here and tell us this..."

Alphonse glanced at Lieutenant Hawkeye uncertainly.

"Um… what are you planning to do?"

Roy's gaze dropped to the carpet.

"I'm going to… arrange things, I guess. We need to have a funeral, Alphonse. And the military will want to honor him…"

"Oh."

Al had forgotten about that part, honestly. Nothing was really important anymore. After deciding that the cold, pale body in that hospital room was no longer Ed, Al hadn't really thought about other people needing to pay their respects. He got up and looked at everyone again. They were still a little dazed; obviously things hadn't quite hit home yet.

"I'll… I'll be going now. Thank you for listening…"

He turned and left the room and building the same way he had entered. A zombie.

He trudged all the way back to the motel and into the same, stupid room. Then he glanced down at the telephone, and suddenly remembered another thing he had forgotten about. His nonexistent stomach twisted at the thought of telling another person, but this was a call that had to be made. This phone was starting to symbolize everything bad in his meaningless life right now.

Slowly, he picked up the receiver and dialed Winry's number.

**oOoOoOo**

**AAAAAAAAAAAAUGH! I made ****myself**** cry… *sniffle*and I knew what was gonna happen! I feel so mean… And btw, sorry this chapter is so late. I've decided that I'm going to update every Sunday, because it's kind of fitting, you know? Sunday is the day that MOST people go to church (*looks pointedly at Edward*) and church is usually associated with God and angels. Therefore, EVERY SUNDAY! Although, knowing me, I'm really into writing this fic, so I'll end up updating really early AND on Sunday. Hehe! XD And thank you guys for all your wonderful support, by the way. I really appreciate it! *tears of pure happiness* :)**

**p.s. I mentioned in chapter 1 that I was baking a cake for FMA's birthday. If you would like to see a picture of it, you can go check out my deviantART account. My name is FMAismyreligion. *wink wink* Asta~la~Pasta!**


	5. A Bitter Taste

**AN: Here you go, guys! Another chapter, and early, just as I predicted! *sheepish grin* I'm really enjoying writing this fic, and I hope that all of you, my dear readers, are enjoying reading it! :D And hey, check this out! This chapter actually isn't horribly depressing! I did it! I'm still able to write things that aren't sad! WOOHOO! And can I just say, to all of you who reviewed, it means SO much to me to know that you like the story so far. SO MANY reviews so quickly! You guys truly are the best. :*D**

Chapter 4

"Dead…?"

"Yes."

"But how… That can't be! I… NO!"

"Calm down."

"Calm down?! CALM DOWN!? No! I can't be dead! Alphonse…"

"Little alchemist, do you know why you are here?"

Edward stopped ranting for a moment and looked at Truth, too confused to even yell about being called 'little'.

"Well, you just told me… you said that I was dead! Why the hell else would I be here?! It's not exactly like I WANTED to come!"

Truth smiled evilly and shook his head, staring at Ed with great amusement written all over his mostly nonexistent face. He was definitely enjoying this; the little maggot.

"You fool. If you were simply dead, then you and I wouldn't be talking right now. You would have already passed on. No, you're here because I wanted to speak with you."

"AAAAAGH! Make up your mind already! One minute you say I'm dead, and then the next; you say that I'm not really… WHICH ONE IS IT?!"

"Yes, you are dead. Now, let's move on."

Edward took a deep breath and tried to keep himself from punching Truth right in his dumb face. This guy was seriously pissing him off.

"So, why the hell would I want to talk to you, bastard?"

Ed glared at Truth, the homicidal intent in his eyes clear and burning brightly. If only you could stare someone to death. Had it been possible, Truth would now be a smoking pile of ashes and dust.

"Because, I can give you something that you want, and you can give me something that I want."

"What could I possibly give you, jerk? Haven't I sacrificed enough? And if I'm really dead like you say, my body is worthless. Speaking of that, what the fuck? How do I know that I can trust you? You've tricked and deceived Al and I plenty of times in the past!"

Truth sighed and facepalmed. The twisted little rat had probably been hoping that Ed would just blindly go along with whatever he said. Well, that's where he was wrong.

"If you really must know for sure, I suppose I'll just have to show you. This should convince you."

Truth waved his hand and a tiny circular portal began to form next to Edward. It slowly grew larger, and stopped once it was about the size of a window.

Peering into it, Edward saw a room that looked an awful lot like… was that Mustang's Office? And… there! Alphonse was sitting on a couch, and the entire team was clustered around him, looking shocked and horrified. There was no sound, but Ed knew Al better than Winry knew his automail. Something was definitely wrong. As he watched, Al stood up and slowly left the room. Everyone else just stood there, seeming as though they weren't quite sure what to do with themselves any more. Finally the Colonel opened his mouth and gave an order. Ed couldn't hear what he said, but everyone else in the room turned toward the door and filed out in silence. Mustang trudged over to his desk and practically fell backwards into his chair.

Edward's breath caught and he leaned in closer. This person did not look like Roy Mustang any longer. The expression on his face… it couldn't be described with words. The only time Ed had ever seen him look like that was…

After Lieutenant Colonel Hughes died.

No.

No, No, No, NO, NO.

It was impossible. He couldn't really be dead… right?

But the evidence didn't lie. As he watched, Mustang reached out and picked up the phone on his desk. His features twisted in pain suddenly. This call seemed to be hard for him to make. Eventually he dialed, and bit his lip as he waited for someone to pick up. When it looked like they finally did, he just talked for a few minutes, then hung up.

That's when the Colonel did a very un-Colonel-like thing. His fists clenched, and then he opened them again and dropped his head into his hands. He just sat like that, unmoving, and Ed slowly realized that something was happening to the document on the desk below. Little circles were appearing on it, wrinkling the page wherever they fell. Fell… Ed gasped as the certainty of what was going on smacked him in the face like a glass door.

Roy Mustang was crying.

And that meant… it was all true.

He had actually died. In a stupid car accident, no less. Everyone and their brother had been trying to kill him for months, and he had died in a CAR CRASH. How was Al going to get his body back now? Al… Al would be all alone. If he wasn't there to help…

Ed stumbled backwards, piecing together the puzzle in his mind to create an awful picture. He turned to Truth, desperation now flooding his eyes.

"Please, my brother… I can't… he's all on his own… and Winry and Granny… SHIT!"

Truth calmly stood up, and the portal disappeared. Ed stared at him in terror. This COULD NOT be happening.

"Alchemist, you would like to see your brother again, correct?"

Edward instantly became furious.

"IF YOU THINK THAT HE'LL KILL HIMSELF JUST SO WE CAN BE TOGETHER, YOU'RE DEAD WRONG! AL WOULD NEVER DO THAT! I WOULDN'T LET HIM, YOU BASTARD!"

Truth held up his hands in a calming gesture.

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm trying to say that I can let **you** go back to** him**."

Ed stopped abruptly, and he glared murderously at the white being in front of him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked uncertainly. Truth was not the kind of person that you could just trust.

"I can turn you into an angel."

Edward's mouth fell open and all of his defenses dropped instantly.

"W-wait, what… what the hell does that mean?"

Truth laughed, and the sound sent a chill down Ed's spine. It was a creepy laugh. Cold and heartless.

"Allow me to explain. I believe I mentioned a game earlier?"

Ed nodded, still unsure where the fuck this conversation was supposed to be going.

"Well, sometimes I get bored here, all by myself. So when you died, I thought to myself: '_Why not turn this into something fun?_' And so I brought you here. Here are the rules of the game. You start by choosing to become an angel or not. If you choose not to, the game is over instantly. If you do want to become an angel, that's when things get interesting. I do hope you won't disappoint me, little fool."

Ed blinked, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. Eventually the words forced themselves out of his mouth on their own.

"Um… earlier you mentioned seeing Al again… what was that about?"

Truth smiled deviously, looking amused.

"Well you see, there are 3 different endings possible in this game. If you were to choose not to become an angel, then you would pass on and end up with your mother again."

Edward gasped, gaping at Truth.

"You… you mean… I would see Mom again? But Alphonse…"

Truth just shrugged.

"It's your call. I suggest you wait until I have fully explained the benefits of each ending though. If you do choose to be an angel, then the other two endings are possible. One ending would leave you alive once more, able to be with your brother and friends. Everything would be the same. However, if you were to fail, then the other ending would give you nothing but pain. You would be doomed to roam the earth forever, unable to rest. That's all the explanation I'm going to give you. Choose your path."

Ed stared, trying to comprehend these words. If there was a chance, however slim it might be, that he could see Al again, then he wanted to take it. But… seeing Mom again, after all these years… that sounded so nice and appealing… he couldn't leave Al to deal with the grief of losing his whole family, though… could he? No. No, he couldn't. If he did that, then he knew he would regret it forever. He had to protect his little brother, no matter the cost. They would both see Mom again someday, he was sure of it.

'_Take a chance._' He thought to himself, strengthening his resolve. '_You'll never know unless you try._'

He took a deep breath, and then gave his answer.

"I'll- I'll become an angel. I have to see Alphonse again. That is the path I choose."

Truth laughed delightedly, clapping his hands.

"Oh, I'm so glad you made that choice! Most people would chicken out. Things are finally going to get interesting around here!"

Edward scowled, annoyed by being thought of a just an insignificant game piece. He would show Truth what he was really made of.

"Fine. Now tell me the rest of the rules. I want to know what I'm supposed to accomplish in order to live again."

Truth smirked; looking as though he were enjoying a private joke in his head, and Ed was the punch line.

"All right. Here's what you have to do. As I already mentioned, it gets boring here. So you have to entertain me."

"Entertain you how?" Ed was confused. He thought it would be something harder. "This doesn't seem like much of a challenge so far."

"Oh, I assure you, this will be difficult. There isn't much that catches my interest for very long. I want drama! Hardships and suffering! There will be challenges that you have to overcome to earn the reward at the end of the game. And they won't be physical. No, emotional conflict is much harder to deal with than anything else in the world. You need to help five people come to terms with your own death! And trust me, that isn't easy. Because if you tell anyone, anyone AT ALL, about this little game of ours until **after** they can accept your death, you lose."

Ed gulped. This really was going to be WAY harder than he had anticipated. He had never been very good with dealing with the emotions of others. In fact, he sucked royally at that sort of thing.

"Man, Al is going to flip out when he sees me…" he muttered to himself. He hadn't been expecting Truth to answer, but he did.

"Ah ha! And in that lies another challenge! You see, Edward- as an angel, no one will be able to see you until AFTER they have accepted your death. They will be able to hear your voice, but nothing more. Undoubtedly, some or even all of the people you choose will come to the conclusion that they are going insane before they will believe that you are really there. You have to prevent that from happening. You will also have to keep them from going crazy for REAL. It's definitely a possibility that they won't believe any of it and will be driven mad."

Edward stared at Truth, horrified by this cruel new twist. This was asking way too much of him! He couldn't put the sanity of his friends and brother on the line like that! But he also knew that he couldn't back out now. He had made his choice already, and now he would have to deal with the consequences of it.

"Oh, and something else."

WHAT NOW!? He couldn't possibly be expected to do anything more, could he?!

"You need to know what will happen if you were to fail."

This caught Ed's attention. There was no way that he was going to fail. He had to win this game, not just for himself and Alphonse, but for Winry and Granny Pinako and all of his other friends. Failure was simply not an option.

"Actually, a long time ago, there was another person who tried to complete this challenge. A 17 year-old boy named Stefan. He failed."

"What… what happened to him?" Truth now indisputably had Edward's full concentration. "Did he… die?"

Truth grinned slyly at Edward, pausing just long enough to make the boy nervous.

"He became a Jaakuna Tenshi. In other words, an evil angel. He now roams the earth, forever feeling the pain of defeat. His wings turned black as night and his mind is consumed with the need for revenge. If he finds you, he will try to destroy your soul, and you will become exactly like him. No longer knowing even your own identity."

"Oh." Edward's voice sounded small and weak. "But, um…how did he come to be like that? You said that he was the only one before me ever to try."

"Ah, he broke one of the rules."

"What rule?"

Truth chuckled darkly.

"The one that I haven't told you about yet."

"WHAT?!" Ed yelled, internally freaking out. "Tell me the rule!"

"He didn't finish before the time limit."

"Wha- there's a time limit?! How long do I have?"

"One week."

The words froze Edward, creeping into his brain and seeming to coat every single one of his nerve endings in ice. His blood ran cold as he tried to process the new information. A week? That was impossible! Five people in only seven days!?

"Oh, don't worry, you'll have help."

Ed blinked, waking from his stunned trance.

"What kind of help?" he asked warily.

"For every victory, that new person will be able to help you with the others."

Ed breathed a deep sigh of relief. That made things significantly easier. Maybe this was possible after all.

"Also, as they will have to prepare your body for the funeral, if you win the game I will restore it so that your soul is able to inhabit it just as it did before your little accident."

Ed nodded, feeling even better about this now. He could do this. He WOULD do this. He just had one question.

"There's still one thing I don't understand."

The white form cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"And what might that be?"

"Well, the law of equivalent exchange. I mean, I'm going to be entertaining you, but that's not really the same as sacrificing something. How does that work?"

Suddenly Truth began to laugh. When he finally stopped, he looked at Ed with a smirk.

"This risk involved with this challenge is so high and the chance of success so low that just attempting it is a fair exchange."

"Oh…"

Ed's newfound confidence weakened a little, hearing that. But then Truth started to speak again, forcing him to abandon the unsettling thoughts.

"One more thing, and then I'll send you on your way."

The featureless white shadow snapped his fingers and immediately a boiling pain erupted in the middle of Ed's back. It was so intense and white hot that Edward's vision blurred and he crumpled to his knees in agony. Then he felt two… somethings… burst through the skin and suddenly it was over. Panting, Ed turned to look behind him. Two large, beautiful, silky white wings were now sprouting from between his shoulder blades. For some inexplicable reason, there was no blood, so they shone brilliantly, giving new meaning to the word 'white' in Edward's mind. He got to his feet, the pain gone, and stared at them in wonder. Turning to face Truth again, he opened his mouth to ask the question, but it was answered before he could.

"Yes, you can fly. Quite well in fact, once you learn. Although, I think you might want to do that rather quickly. Have fun with your challenge, alchemist!"

He looked at Truth in confusion.

"What do you mean by-"

Then there was nothing under his feet and he was falling, wind slicing past him as he tumbled to earth. He grasped what had just happened instantly. Truth had opened the portal back to his world right beneath him and now he was forced to teach himself to fly while falling to the ground hundreds of feet below. The challenge had begun.

THAT BASTARD.

**oOoOoOo**

**HAHAHA! Well, I'm horrible. I left you with a… skyhanger, I guess? He's not really falling off a cliff… Ah, whatever. Reviews are much appreciated, but not necessary. I don't want to be mean. ;D**

***Desperately hopes that you will ignore that statement ***


	6. Brother?

**AN: Okay! Here's your Sunday update! I worked my butt off to get this chapter done because I have a HUGE project for science class, but it's here on time! Yeah, you know ya love me! ;D**

**(And by the way, I know that motels usually have the doors on the outside. The one that Al is staying at has the doors on the inside. I don't know why. I just felt like a hotel would sound too fancy, but I wanted the doors on the inside. Go figure.)**

Chapter 5

Flying. It couldn't be THAT hard, right? Just throw yourself at the ground and miss. Birds did it all the time. Now it was Ed's turn. What muscles were you supposed to use?

As he fell towards a certain re-death a few hundred feet below, Edward decided that this was one time that logic would probably be a better option than spontaneous improv. Waving his arms in a useless attempt to slow his descent, Ed wondered what Truth would do if he ended up as a grease spot on the sidewalk 30 seconds into this challenge. Laugh at him, probably.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Ed finally remembered some of the basic laws of physics. If he fell vertically, then there was way less space on which the air could push up. Horizontally would slow the fall. The instant he twisted himself downward a little in the air, the new wings unfurled, catching the wind a bit. His fall turned into a steep glide. Ah, that made sense, at least. Birds did NOT fly straight up, usually. Probably would have been a smart thing to remember earlier. As the ground rushed up to meet him at a terrifying rate, Ed threw himself headfirst at it, jerking flat at the last possible second. Moments later he hit the pavement, rolling head over heels until he smacked into a lamppost. Not exactly the most graceful landing ever, but nothing seemed to be broken, which Ed labeled a success.

Groaning, he detangled himself, landing in a heap on the sidewalk. Man, it was lucky he hadn't been aiming at the ROAD. He brushed a few strands of golden hair out of his eyes and managed to stand up without anything going wrong this time. Stupid Truth. If he wanted Ed to learn to fly, he could've just told him to jump off a few buildings. That would have hurt less.

Now, back to more important matters. He knew that the first person he had to help was Al. He would need it the most. First, however, he had to FIND his brother. Looking around, it was pretty clear that he was in Central at least. That was a start. Wishing that he could ask someone for directions, Ed turned around just in time for a little girl holding her Mother's hand to run right **through** him. He jumped back about a foot, clutching at his chest, which felt plenty solid to HIM. If people couldn't see him though, it seemed sort of seemed logical that no one would be able to touch him either, in a weird way. To test his theory, Ed walked over to an old man and stood directly in front of him.

The old guy didn't even blink and shuffled through him as well.

It didn't seem to apply to objects though, judging by the fact that he had run into that lamppost a minute ago. But he wasn't exactly going to throw himself at something else to find out. Instead, he looked around him for a familiar landmark to help him figure out where he had ended up.

"Damn," he muttered as he finally recognized a tall building. He was at the south end of Central, nearly as far from the motel he and Al had been staying at as he could possibly be. He had already decided that the motel was the most likely place he would find his little brother. It was going to take a while to get over there though, especially at this time of day. Central was BIG. Although, the trip would be a hell of a lot quicker if he could just gain control of the new wings…

Scanning the area, Ed finally caught sight of the perfect thing. The building was not large by any standards, but it was just tall enough. More importantly, it had an easily accessible fire escape that went all the way up to the flat rooftop. That meant that if he failed (and he was sure that would be happening a lot) then it wouldn't be too difficult to get back up. He ran over and studied it for a minute before dragging over a couple of trash cans to use as stepping stools to reach the first level. ('_Seriously,_' he thought, '_If you were going to build a fire escape, make it reach all the way down to the ground. Nobody wants to get out of a fire only to have to leap off an unstable metal platform 6 feet in the air and break a leg or something._')

He finally managed to climb up onto the rickety metal structure and made his way to the top. Stepping out onto the roof, the wind hit him in the face like a glass door. It was stronger up here than on the ground, and it whipped his hair around his face and stirred the feathers of the wings.

'_Note to self,_' Ed thought. '_Find a new ponytail holder…_'

Carefully, he made his way to the edge and peered over. The drop suddenly looked a lot longer than it had from the ground.

'_I have to do this._' He reminded himself. '_For Alphonse._'

Closing his eyes, Ed tried to think of the wings moving, lifting him up into the air. He stood there; silent, just listening to the wind disturb the feathers. He had to be able to control these wings, but he needed to figure out how to move them first.

'_Wait a second…_'

His eyes snapped open as he suddenly realized the problem.

'_I've been thinking of them as __the__ wings. That's wrong. They're __my __wings._'

He knew this was the reason he couldn't fly. The wings… HIS wings… were now a part of him, whether he liked it or not. He just had to **accept** them. As he had this epiphany, he finally became aware of a kind of… strength… in between his shoulder blades. A flow of power. And it wasn't just in his back. It also extended upward into two unknown appendages. The feeling was foreign to him, but strangely like he already knew how he was supposed to use it. Holding his breath, Ed concentrated and stretched the newly discovered muscles, manipulating the power.

Immediately, he felt his wings unfurl behind him, feathers rustling. The wind tugged at them, as if trying to lift him off the roof all by itself. Grinning in triumph, Ed flexed, and his wings flapped once. Even though it was a small, simple action, the breeze took hold and he rose into the air a few inches before settling back down.

"Okay, looks good!" he announced to no one in particular. "And now- you know what they say. Practice makes perfect!"

Being a master at acting before thinking, Edward didn't even hesitate as he backed up a little and then ran straight for the edge of the roof. **Without **considering that the air currents might be different above the street than above the building. He jumped… and was immediately caught in an updraft and yanked skyward.

"Whoa! **Not** cool!" he yelped, flapping his wings as hard as he could to escape the turbulent winds. He got out of the current, but unfortunately underestimated his own strength and shot backwards.

"Shit!"

Violently slamming his eyes closed, Ed tried to focus. Making a conscious effort to use only as much force as was needed, he beat his wings once more to straighten himself. This time it worked, and when he looked again, he was in the air 30 feet above the pavement. Sinking though, now that he was no longer in motion.

"Hmm… I wonder…" he speculated aloud. He tried flapping his wings very gently and rose back up a little.

'_So that's how you're supposed to move…_'

Using the wind to help, Ed experimented, turning around, changing speeds and height, (and generally having a fantastic time doing it) until all that was left was landing. He maneuvered down so that he was hovering a few feet above the sidewalk. Flapping his wings as gently as he could, he slowly let his toes touch the earth. His wings stilled completely, and he swapped all his weight to his feet as he hit the concrete. He stumbled a little, but didn't fall over.

"Awesome!" he cheered, ecstatic that he hadn't crashed to the ground. Then he the voice of a little girl coming from directly behind him.

"Mommy, did you hear that?"

Edward whipped around, slapping his hands over his mouth.

'_That's right! People can't see or touch me, but they can hear me! Crap!_'

The mother of the girl looked in Ed's direction with an odd expression on her face.

"There's nothing there, Emma. Let's go home, okay?"

Edward breathed a small sigh of relief as the pair walked away. Nobody had found him out after all. Looking up, he realized how high the sun had risen while he had been teaching himself to fly. It looked like it was almost one in the afternoon. He must have lost track of time during his little flight fest.

'_Well… I'm out of excuses. Time to go see Al._' he thought, biting his lip nervously. '_Hopefully he won't think he's gone insane…_'

He jumped to give himself a little bit of lift, and took to the air. Within only a few minutes, Central HQ was in sight. Flying was the best way to travel EVER, Edward decided. It was much faster than a car or even a train when he wanted to go that quickly. Super-efficient. As long as he didn't hit any birds… Come to think of it, why hadn't he seen any? Looking all around, he finally spotted some off in the distance.

'_Oh…_' he realized. '_My wings are so big that they probably think I'm a predator. An eagle, or something. I suppose that makes sense._'

Flying over HQ, he glanced down. Then something- or rather **someone**- caught his eye. As he watched, a person with dark, raven-colored hair stepped into a military car. It almost looked like… Was that the Colonel? Dismissing the thought quickly, Ed continued on his way. About ten minutes later, he finally landed by the entrance to the motel that he and Al had been sharing. Now he just had to get to his brother, assuming he hadn't gone to stay somewhere else. Should he try to find an open window, or wait until Al came out, or just walk in through the front door and steal a key from behind the desk in the lobby? The third option would be all too easy now that no one could see or feel him. As long as they didn't notice the floating keys, he would be fine. Keys were small, after all. In the end, that was probably the best choice.

He shrugged and walked up the steps. Things worked out perfectly when he got to the doors, as an old lady was just leaving. Just before they closed, Ed slipped inside silently. He quickly ran over to the desk and crept around it, avoiding the receptionist. He knew he was invisible to regular people, but he couldn't help sneaking around. It was just a habit from his years of missions with Al. He slunk into the room that was behind the desk, where they kept the keys to rooms. Ed knew that there was always at least one extra for each room, in case of an emergency. He scanned the hooks drilled into the wall, each with a key or two hanging from it. Finally he found the one that corresponded to his and Al's room, and carefully slipped it up and off the holder. Then he crouched low to the ground, holding the key near the floor so it would be less likely that anyone would see it, and pondering how to get it up to the room. He could fly, but his wings would probably knock something over in this small space.

"That's it!" he whispered, as a stroke of inspiration came to him. Still keeping as near to the floor as possible, he stood and tiptoed across the floor until he was on the far side of the room. Then he reached up to a table and gingerly tipped over a bottle of water that had been sitting there. The resulting sound brought the receptionist rushing in to see what had happened. She cursed under her breath when she saw the water seeping into the carpet and dashed over to clean it up. By this time, Ed was already out the door and speed-crawling back around the desk. He glanced around the room, and upon seeing that it was empty, got off his knees and ran for the stairs. He felt bad about spilling the water, but Al was more important to him. Dashing up the steps to the second floor, Ed ran into the hallway, relieved to see that it too, was void of people. He ran down its length and then turned left. The room he was searching for was only about 35 feet away.

'_Please be there, Al._' he silently pleaded with his brother. '_I don't know where else to look for you, besides Resembool._'

Taking a deep breath, Ed slowly inserted the key into the lock and turned it. It clicked, and he felt it unlatch. He reached out and turned the knob slowly.

The door swung open.

Alphonse was standing with his back to Edward, talking to someone on the phone. Overjoyed, Ed silently rejoiced, and stepped into the room. He turned and silently shut the door so he wouldn't scare Al.

As he did so, he heard his brother say one thing before setting the phone back into the cradle.

"Goodbye, Winry. I… I'm sorry…"

Ed's eyes widened in horror. Winry knew? She would be distraught! She had always been worried that they would get hurt or even killed on a mission sooner or later. She had been right about the killed part, but not about the mission. Knowing her, she would find SOME way to blame herself…

"Fuck!" he hissed, forgetting for a second about people being able to hear him. Al stiffened, and turned around, staring in Ed's direction.

"H-hello?" he asked, sounding slightly confused. Mostly, though, his voice sounded dead. Like he had totally given up his will to live. It hurt Ed to realize that, without him there, his little brother had no direction in life.

'_Might as well go for it._' he thought. There wouldn't be a better time to do this. He closed his eyes and stepped forward.

"Alphonse?"

**oOoOoOo**

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE BELOW!**

**Hehehe. That's all, folks! Boy, am I evil, or what? In case you were wondering, the motel has actual KEYS, not key CARDS. Now, of greater importance- who do you guys want Ed to help? Obviously he's gonna talk to Al, and I was planning on doing Winry and Colonel Mustang too. However, I decided to let you pick the others! If there are more than two candidates, then I'll choose the ones with the most votes. Review and tell me who you want! ;D**


	7. You're Really Here?

**AN: HAPPY SUNDAY! More widely known around the world as UPDATE DAY! You guys really wanted this chapter! I could tell because you left me all those lovely reviews! And also because after my sister (who is addicted to Maka-chopping people) read the last chappy, she completely FREAKED. As in full blown screaming and attacking me. I was honestly terrified for my life. So, instead of writing this chapter about Winry like I planned (Hehehe… :D) I decided to do Al. You're very welcome.**

Chapter 6

As Alphonse hung up the phone, he was feeling incredibly depressed. Winry had been in hysterics for most of the conversation, but by the end it had deteriorated into heavy, heartbroken sobbing. He felt terrible telling her about what had happened, but it needed to be done. Not more than a second passed after he nestled the phone back into its cradle when he SWORE he heard someone whisper 'Fuck!' from right behind him. The weird thing was, it sounded almost **exactly** like Ed.

'_Great. Now I'm hearing things too._' He thought, but turned around anyway. As expected, no one was there. But he felt positive that he heard something…

"H-hello?"

All was silent for a moment. He was about to dismiss it as just someone passing by in the hallway when the voice came again.

"Alphonse?"

If he had a human body, Al was confident that he would have fallen over right then. It WAS Edward's voice. But nobody was there.

"So… that's it, then?" he asked the voice. "I'm crazy, right? Can that even happen to me in this body? I guess it can…"

Words came from empty air again, sounding extremely panicked now.

"NO! Al, you're not crazy, I promise you're not. Please believe me!"

"I'm talking to a disembodied voice that sounds exactly like my dead brother. Of course not, that isn't crazy at all."

"Please, Alphonse. Just listen to me. I'm not… well, I did die, but… I mean… AAGH! I can't tell you!"

Al didn't even bother to respond this time. He just turned and walked back to the bedroom, set on ignoring the voice altogether. Why torture himself by believing, even for a second, that Edward was talking to him from beyond the grave? It simply wasn't possible.

"Al, wait!"

It was so HARD, though! He longed to hear his older brother speak to him again, and now he had that opportunity. Was he wasting it? If he was already insane, would it really make a difference whether or not he listened, if only to hold onto the memory of Ed's **real **voice a little longer? The decision was only made harder by the fact that the words from nowhere seemed to follow him, begging him to listen, just for a minute, the whole way.

"Al, just hear me out okay? Please, you have to move on!"

That statement threw Al enough that he had to answer this time.

"Why should I listen to you? And what do you mean, 'move on?' I can't do that! Ed was the only family I had left! I can't just forget about him!"

"I didn't say that."

"Say what?"

"That you had to forget about me."

Hearing that, Al suddenly became furious, something that didn't happen often.

"THEN WHAT **DO** YOU MEAN!? AND STOP USING THAT VOICE! YOU'RE TRYING TO TRICK ME, AREN'T YOU! EDWARD IS DEAD, AND HE'S NEVER COMING BACK! YOU CAN'T BE HIM!"

There was silence for a moment, and then the speech came back, sounding a little angry now.

"Al, as hard as it is to believe, I truly am here. Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not real. And moving on… that just means that you have to come to terms with my death. I won't allow you to just give up! If you can accept that I'm dead, then you can go out into the world, find a way to get your body back, do whatever you want with the rest of your life! You'll never forget me, I know you won't, but at least you don't have to carry that burden any longer! I've been dead for, what, a day? And look at yourself! You're a complete mess!"

Al was quiet for a minute as a thought struck him.

"H-how do you… how do you know about my body?" he asked quietly. "Ed and I only ever told a few people…"

There was a sigh from the empty space before the voice spoke again, much more gently.

"Because it's really, honestly ME, Al. Edward, your big brother. The one who used to yell about all those stray cats you liked to pick up, and always ate way too much and the one who you would calm down in the middle of the night when I would have a bad dream…"

Al stood there in shock, the memories replaying in his mind. He, Winry and Granny were the only ones that had known that Ed got nightmares about that horrid stormy night long ago… and only **he** knew that they had continued long after the brothers left Resembool. That was mainly because Edward had tried as hard as he possibly could to hide it, not wanting to seem weak.

"T-there's no way…" he stuttered, his voice breaking. "It's not possible… I don't want to… If it ends up not being real… I don't think I could…"

"I'm here, Al. Please, please, believe me…"

Suddenly there was a slight pressure on Alphonse's arm. Then a gasp came from the empty air.

"Al… I can… you're not like the others… I can actually touch… I don't go through!"

Confused now, Al stared in the general direction that the stuttered words had come from.

"Wait… what? You don't 'go through?' What does that mean?"

Sounding extremely excited now, the disembodied voice took a deep shuddering breath, as if to keep from yelling in joy.

"Okay, listen to me. Ever since I got here, people have just been passing through me as if I don't exist. They couldn't see or feel me. Kind of creepy, actually. But you're different… I can touch you! Here, look!"

An invisible force suddenly lifted Al's arm into the air. Yelping, he yanked it back. This was getting a little too weird, even for a crazy person. He was pretty sure that hallucinations couldn't move things. It couldn't be possible… could it? People didn't just come back from being dead. There was no way this could really be Edward… he was gone! But at the same time, all of this seemed WAY too real. Not at all like he would expect an illusion to be. His imagination was good, but he had no idea it was **this **good.

The unseen vocalization spoke up again, sounding sheepish now.

"Oh… oops. I probably should have given you some kind of warning, huh? Sorry for scaring you, Al. I didn't mean to, honest."

"Um… that's… okay, I guess…" Al said, weirded out now. This was getting too odd. "I was just… surprised. So, if you're a figment of my imagination, how did you do that?"

"I'm not, but do what?"

"You know… lift up my arm. How'd you do it?"

A pained sigh came from empty air.

"I guess since that armor is an object, I can touch it… I suppose that if you had your real body then you would be the same as everyone else…"

Alphonse was now totally internally freaking out. This SHOULD NOT be feasible. Delusions like this just didn't happen. Was his head able to formulate what Edward's responses to his questions would've been because they were so close? No, that was absurd. They had been incredibly tuned into what the other was thinking, but this was over the top, even for them. So how was this happening? Even the thought that this might, conceivably, hypothetically be **real**… No. It hurt just to consider it for even a moment. Hurt way too much to even listen to these fantastical impossibilities any longer. He turned away again, this time determined to pay absolutely NO ATTENTION WHATSOEVER to the hallucination.

"Al, where are you going…? Wait, Alphonse, stop! Listen to me, **please**!"

Still pretending to be oblivious to "Ed's" voice, Al kept right on walking. There would be no more speaking to pointless, fake apparitions of his dead brother. Nope. Zip, zero, nada. Just because that voice was the one sound he wanted to hear the most in the whole world right now did NOT mean that he couldn't ignore it.

"Alphonse, **PLEASE!** Please hear me out! Don't just reject the idea that this is real, because it IS! I swear to you on my own grave, it is!"

'_No… no, don't turn around… resist it! It's all invented in your own mind; no matter what he says!_'

Still, it sounded SO MUCH like him. But… wait a second… Edward didn't cry… and that's exactly what the ghost-like entity born of Al's subconscious insanity was doing. Obviously he couldn't see it, but he could hear the badly concealed sobs straining to break free. He felt like he should say something, anything- he really didn't like it when people cried. Edward hadn't either, when he was still alive. So shouldn't he try to help? But… would it even matter if all this was just an invention of his emotionally overstressed psyche?

"H-hey, don't… I mean, you shouldn't… um…"

The phantom voice seemed to be forcing out words between sniffles now. Something that Al had never heard Edward do, but still…

"So you still don't like crying huh? Shit, this is so weak… but I can't help it! Damn… Al, if there's anything, anything **at all** that would convince you that I'm real, tell me. I'm begging you, please! Give me something to work with…"

Al hesitated, deliberating for a minute. One part of himself was telling him to forget about all this crazy stuff, to brush off anything these words were telling him. The other part was telling the first part to shut the hell up and stop being such a prissy little wimp. Just try it, it seemed to be saying. Why not? After all, what do you have to lose? Your sanity? Will to live? Peace of mind? Those ships have sailed…

"…Alright." Al finally whispered. There was only one thing that he could think of that would really, undeniably prove that the wraithlike speaker in front of him was his brother. Something that Edward had never told him and that Al had never asked about. If he weren't almost positive that this apparition was just him going crazy, he would never be able to ask this question. He couldn't do that to his elder brother, ever. No matter how much he wanted the answer.

"I-I want you to tell me… when we tried to bring Mom back. I know that you- if you're really Edward, that is- you wanted to see her again. But… there was something else. Something that I never did figure out. Another reason that you wouldn't tell me about. I never asked, because I thought it might hurt you to explain it. Tell me… what was your other reason for doing it?"

Silence. A long, tension filled silence that stretched on forever. Eventually, though, Al heard the sound of someone taking a shaky breath in, the kind of sound that was made when you were about to do something that you might regret for the rest of your life. Something that might break you.

"I'm sorry Al… I-I wanted to do it… for you. More than myself, definitely. I didn't want you to have to deal with basically being an orphan so young… you're only a year younger than I am, but I thought I knew more, thought I knew enough. I was a fool…"

That wasn't the answer Alphonse had been expecting. Not at all. He was thinking that maybe his mind would finally run out of creative ideas and this illusion would disappear. But no. This actually sounded like Edward. He had always thought that all that had happened was his fault… could this finally be the last piece of the puzzle? The one that revealed the picture, the real reasoning behind Edward's insistence that he was to blame? It couldn't be… but the evidence was irrefutable. He had asked for answers and that's what he got. He couldn't possibly have known the answer to that question… only his older brother would have known.

"Then… that was why… so this- this isn't just…?"

"I'm so sorry Alphonse… I'm so sorry. Everything was my fault… all of it."

"Ed?"

The word hung in the air for an instant and in that moment everything was frozen. Then Al saw a golden sphere appear a few feet in front of him. It started out as an orb, but began to steadily grow larger. As it did, it changed shape, morphing into the blurry outline of a person. The form looked human, except for two large wings sprouting from its back. Suddenly, a flash of gold light and flickering sparks that looked like the last few embers of fireworks lit up the room. For a minute it became so bright that Al was unable to see. A few seconds later it died down, the light seeming to sink into the floor, and in its place stood…

"Edward." Alphonse whispered again. But this time the meaning was different. It wasn't a question or a cry of despair. It was amazed; in recognition of the person now standing before him. A person who could not possibly be there, and yet, he was.

Ed looked at him, his face slightly confused. He had obviously picked up on Al's change in tone. He looked almost exactly the same as he had a day ago when he left the motel for HQ. The only difference was the beautiful, silky, brilliant white wings stretching up from between his shoulder blades. Al stared in shock, trying to process this and failing miserably.

"W-what… how did- that's not…"

Looking quizzical now, Edward leaned forward a bit, staring right back at Al with the same look on his face he always wore when he was thinking hard about something. Then, slowly, he lifted his left arm and stretched his hand out toward the wall. Al's head turned a fraction to follow the gesture, and then moved back to Ed.

"Wait," Edward said with a small gasp. "Al, can you…? Can you **see** me?"

This question shook Alphonse out of his daze.

"Um… y-yeah… brother, but what-?"

"I don't know. I guess… maybe it was because you finally believed that I'm here. You do know it's true right?"

Al hesitated. '_This __**has**__ to be real._' he thought with sudden conviction. '_It's completely crazy, but Ed is really here. There's no other plausible answer._'

"Y-yes. I just… how?"

Ed looked uncomfortable suddenly. He bit his lip and squirmed, his eyes darting back and forth around the room.

"Er… I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you that yet…"

"Oh. I understand. It's okay, brother."

Without warning, Al moved closer and reached out to touch Ed's wings.

"Um… are these… real?"

Edward grinned abruptly.

"Yeah! It's the coolest thing! That how I got here actually. I started way over on the complete other side of town and it only took me, like, ten minutes to come this far! I wish you could feel how awesome it is, Al…"

Easily settling back into the old pattern he'd had with his brother, Al actually managed a tiny laugh at his Ed's childish amusement.

"You could show me," he suggested. "That way I could see what it's like for you."

Ed's eyes lit up just like they used to when he was alive and was excited about something. Practically shining with happiness and anticipation. His eyes had always been special in a way that Al could never exactly pinpoint. It was a little like the saying that eyes are windows to the soul. Of course that wasn't true, but it was almost like Edward's eyes were windows into his heart. You could almost never tell how he felt from looking at his actions or listening to his words, but if you studied his eyes you could find his true feelings swirling around in the identical golden pools. Al was glad that he could see that again.

"Okay, watch this!" Edward announced, bringing Al back to reality. He moved to the middle of the room and slowly spread his wings. Then, with only one simple motion, he was in the air. When he reached up, his fingers brushed the ceiling, which was something that Alphonse had never expected to see unless it involved the aid of a stepladder. As he sunk back down the floor, Ed smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Al in a silly fashion.

"Tah-dah! Well, what do you think? It's pretty cool, huh!"

"Yeah, I guess that does look fun," Al admitted. "I bet Winry would love to try. Remember when we were all little and she wanted to be a fairy when she grew up? That dream sure changed."

Edward snickered, too caught up in reminiscing with Al to realize where this conversation was leading.

"Well, in retrospect, I think that was mostly our fault. We told her that it was impossible, because fairies don't exist, and she didn't speak to us for three days."

"Hey!" Al realized. "Brother, we should tell Winry that you're here! She sounded really distressed when I told her that you died…"

Suddenly, a flash of pain danced across Edward's features, and he winced.

"Damn, I can't believe that I almost forgot…" he muttered. "Al, uh, we… we need to talk…"

"About what?" Al asked, a little on edge again.

"Alphonse, do you remember what I was saying earlier, about me dying?"

"Um…" Al tried to recall. Then it came to him. "Oh… you- you said something about me… moving… on…"

"Yes. Alphonse, that's mainly the reason that I came back. I have to help you and the others come to terms with my death. You can't be weighed down by something that you had nothing to do with and couldn't change. I may not be the best at emotional stuff, but I have to do this… for you guys. I can't do it without you either, Al. Please, will you let me help you?"

Al stared at Ed in shock. He hadn't been expecting this from his brother. Wasn't it Edward who had always said that they would stay together no matter what? He had left before and now he was back. But asking Al to move on while he was still here…

"Wait a second. Brother, you don't mean…"

"Mean what, Al?"

Al looked at Ed desperately. Longing to hear any answer to his question other than the one he was sure he was about to receive.

"Ed… if we all say goodbye like you want us to… like you want **me** to… Edward, will you disappear?"

**oOoOoOo**

**DUN-DUN DUUUUN! How do you think Ed is going to answer? Ehehe! I'm so evil… I made you lovely people wait a whole week and then ended on yet another cliffy. On the upside… this was the longest chapter I have ever written for any of my fanfics, EVER! 3,102 words, NOT including my author's notes! BOOYAH! *happy dance of proudness***

**P.S. I am still accepting any input you have regarding who you want Edward to help! Although, unfortunately, some of you suggested people from the manga/Brotherhood, and I have this story listed as being set in any world. I don't want to confuse anyone; therefore, I can't accept those votes. I'm really sorry! :(**


	8. Thank You

**AN: Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! It's kind of funny, but ever since I started writing this fic, there's just been coincidence after coincidence. I keep accidentally listening to songs with the word 'angel' in them. For example: Evil Angel, Anthem of the Angels, Lips of an Angel, Angel of Darkness, Angel with a Shotgun, Electric Angel… etc. It's weird! Plus, I have recently been enjoying a new manga series called… DN Angel! This fanfiction is affecting me… In case you couldn't tell, I also have a new obsession with trailing off in the middle of my sentences using this:**

**[…]**

**I really need to stop doing that… DANG IT! DX**

**Anyway, I am SO SORRY for not updating last Sunday. Or all this past week. I have been having some evil technical problems, I got sick and I lost my flash drive on which I save EVERYTHING I write. I should probably remedy that. Oh well. Either way, proceed!**

Chapter 7

'_What do I say…? I can't tell the truth… but I don't want to lie to Al either!_' Ed hesitated, staring up at Alphonse.

"Um… I… I really don't know, Al… I guess it depends…"

"On what?"

Edward squeezed his eyes closed, wishing that he could tell his little brother the truth now instead of later. How could anyone be expected to do this? It was so hard to resist the temptation to calm Alphonse…

"Al, I'm so sorry, but I'm not allowed to tell you yet. You just have to trust that this really is the best thing to do, okay? Can you do that? Have faith in me?"

Slowly, Al nodded.

"Yes, brother. If that's what you think is… best. I'll always trust you."

Edward let out a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing. This task would be so much easier if Alphonse would willingly accept help. Once that was done, the whole thing was sure to be simpler as well. It was a fantastic advantage that Al was able to help him convince other people. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Al never lied to anyone, so the others would believe the impossible story more quickly and without too much doubt. Some of them might even want to think that it was true so much that they would be able to see him almost immediately, simplifying things even further. Hopefully.

"Okay. Alphonse?"

Al looked down at him, and even though he didn't have a body, Ed could sense the uneasiness, fear and tension rolling off of his little brother in waves.

"Al, as hard as it may be for you to understand this, I **want** you to move on. You and everyone else. You have to, because if you don't, you'll always be held back, and I don't want that to happen. I want you guys to live your lives, and be happy while you do. What happened to me was just an accident; it could have been anybody. No one's fault and no one has to take any blame. None of you could have known what was going to happen. Sure, there were ways that it could have been prevented. If traffic was just a little lighter or a little heavier. If I had tripped and had to get a bandage for the cut. If I had woken up just a little later that morning. If I had spent a bit more time writing that report. If I had gone to turn it in on time in the first place. There are ALWAYS what-ifs, and they don't help anything. Thinking about it and being upset and depressed won't accomplish anything either. If that sinks in, then you can all accept my death and move on. You won't blame yourselves. Even if you aren't aware of it, part of you probably believes that if you do that, I would be angry at you. I promise you, I wouldn't. And Al, you **know** that I don't break my promises."

"But-" Al started shakily. "I just… you're my brother! How can I… that feels too selfish. If I moved on so that I could be happy… wouldn't that be thinking only of myself? What about you? You would be alone. And maybe this is selfish too, but now that you're here, I can't let you go! I don't want you to go and leave me behind, Ed! Not again, please…"

Ouch. That stung a little. Ed knew that Al wasn't trying to be cruel, but it still hurt. He knew the pain and heartbreak of being left alone in the world, with no family to cling to. When they had performed human transmutation and the gate took Al, Ed had felt that way. However, it was only for a few minutes until he traded his arm to get his little brother back. Al had been alone like that for a whole day, so Ed didn't blame him for wanting him to stay, no matter what.

"It's not selfish, Al. I know how you feel, but…"

Alphonse looked down at his feet, maybe realizing that Ed really did understand his pain and Ed bit his lip. Damn. He **really** didn't want to play this card, but if it was the only way to help Al…

"Look, Alphonse, I don't just want you to move on, I NEED you to. As long as you're stuck, I am too. Think about it. If you died and I couldn't get over it, how would you feel? Would you ever be able to relax again? Could you rest knowing that I wasn't happy?"

"I… I guess not…" Al mumbled sadly. "Y-you're right Ed. I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry, Al." Ed admitted. "If anyone is selfish, it's me for saying that to you. I only wanted you to be happy, so I tried to take advantage of your selflessness just now. That was really dumb."

"It's fine. I probably would have tried the same thing…" Al said, forgiving as usual. "You're doing this for me, and I keep trying to reject your help. You always try to help me, and now it's my turn. If you want me to move on, I… I can do it."

Edward exhaled deeply in relief. The hard, agonizing part was over. If Alphonse said he could do it, then he could. Hopefully, if Ed could win this game, neither of them would have to be alone. They would be together again. Before he even knew what he was doing, Ed moved forward and wrapped his arms as far around Al as they would go. Al hugged him back and they stood like that, both feeling extremely grateful to be able to embrace the other again, if only for a moment.

"Okay." Al eventually whispered, sounding sad and lost, but better than before. "I'll be all right now. You… you can go…"

The instant the words were spoken, a glowing blue orb appeared next to the brothers, and something fell out. A second later, it disappeared, leaving no trace that it ever existed. Confused, Edward released Al and bent down to pick up the fallen object. It was a little strip of paper with just five words on it, but when Ed read it, his face split into a wide grin.

"Damn…" turning to his little brother, Ed smiled gently. "That's the best part, Al. I'm staying right here."

"Huh?" Al sounded confused. "What do you mean? What does the paper say?"

Ed simply held it up for him to read.

_One down, four to go._

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Ed started, still beaming like a loon, "You see, when I died, I made a deal with Truth."

"What?!" Al stared at his brother, sure that he must have misheard. "Truth? THE Truth? As in the creepy, featureless guy from the gate?"

"Yup!" Ed confirmed cheerfully. "Well, he called it a game, but it's essentially the same thing. Basically, I could come back to earth and have to help five people come to terms with my death. Apparently this doesn't normally happen, but he was bored or something, the nutcase."

"So… uh… I'm one of the five?" Al asked, seeming uncomfortable and perplexed. Edward's expression softened.

"Yeah. I get to choose who, and I knew I had to come here first."

"So… what happens if you can't get four more people to move on?"

"Umm…" Ed shifted uneasily. "Let's just put it this way- that would be very bad."

"Ah." Al said, appearing to be a bit overwhelmed. "And if you DO help all five?"

"Well, that's where it gets weird."

Alphonse stared at Edward, obviously wondering how it could get any stranger. This was going to be fun to explain…

"If I can help those five people, and there are a few other details as well, then… I get to live again."

The silence was smothering, suffocating, as Ed waited for Al to respond. He couldn't really blame his brother though. It was a lot to take in, and Al's emotions had been stretched to the breaking point over the last day. This would be tough on anyone.

"Brother… what do you… are you saying that you'll come back to life…?"

"Umm… yeah, pretty much."

Al staggered a bit, and then just sat down on the floor. Concerned, Ed dropped to his knees beside him.

"Al! Are you okay? I know, it's a lot, and I know that it brings back bad memories… but everything is going to be fine this time, I promise you!"

Al shook his head and looked straight into Edward's eyes. Somehow he could sense his brother's fear permeating the room, making everything feel heavy with despair. It was awful, and Ed realized that this was probably how Al had been feeling ever since his death.

"Ed… that's not it. What about your body? Mustang was going to arrange a burial… even if you come back, there won't be anything for your soul to cling to! You would have to be like me, and that's IF we could even find something your soul would be compatible with. Plus, how would we even preform the transmutation? When you bonded my soul to this armor, you'd just had a ton of information crammed into your brain all at once and you lost your leg! There's no way to be sure of exactly what you did. If we can't replicate the results, I… I don't even want to think about what could happen to you! Even if it did work… you would have a body just like mine. I don't want that!"

Ed stared at Al, feeling so many different emotions at the same time that he wasn't even sure whether words could describe them. There was sadness, determination, fear… mostly just pride in his little brother and wishing that he could be that selfless. Al was truly a one of a kind, irreplaceable, amazing brother.

"Al, it's already taken care of. Even if the funeral does happen, everything would be fine. See, Truth thought of that. He thinks of everything, the bastard. If I come back, he promised to restore my body so that my soul won't have any problems. The only thing you would have to do is come dig me up before I ran out of oxygen. Speaking of that, I suppose Mustang, being the efficient prick that he is, probably has almost everything done and figured out for my burial. We might want to get to him next and see if we can pull a couple strings to keep him from doing something completely stupid… I can visualize perfectly all the stuff he could mess up… that arrogant asshole."

"Even now…" Al slowly shook his head in disbelief, but thankfully, Ed could hear a bit of actual amusement in his tone. "Brother, he's really upset about what happened too. I can't believe it… you died, but you're still the same as ever. Can't you go even one day without insulting the Colonel?"

"Nope!" Edward replied cheerfully, ecstatic at how well Al seemed to be taking this. "Let's go see him so I can use every bad word I know on him. After all, he can't do anything to me now, can he?"

As Alphonse facepalmed, Ed jumped up, already excited and reinvigorated by the prospect of all the derogatory and disrespectful things he could do now to irritate the living hell out of Mustang.

"Come on, Al, let's go see the Colonel!"

**oOoOoOo**

**Shit. Just, shit. I have lost my writing mojo. This was WAY too short and rushed. I ****will**** find a way to make it up to you guys, I promise on my lucky pencil! *determination face***

**FMA64 is going to go have a very large cup of coffee now and try in vain to complete all the make-up work from when she was sick.**

**School is a bitch. XP**


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